Cops: SoCal student had 33-name "hit list," planned school shooting

By Crimesider Staff

Updated on: September 22, 2016 / 10:54 AM
/ CBS/AP

HESPERIA, Calif. -- A student had
a list of 33 names of students and staff members from his Southern California
high school who he wanted to shoot, and a detailed plan to do it, authorities
said Wednesday.

The student at Encore High School had
the intent and capability to carry out the attack, San
Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said at a briefing for parents and
press.

“There certainly was
the potential in this case for harm,” McMahon said. “That plot was
very well-detailed and he was very set on doing something at Encore High
School.”

McMahon said the boy, now
being held in a juvenile jail, had “limited access” to legally
registered firearms in his home, but did not elaborate.

The investigation began
when a parent on Saturday told the Sheriff’s Department about threats on social
media. After detectives talked to the student on Sunday, and to school staff
and students on Monday, they obtained a search warrant for both of the boys’
parents’ homes.

That search turned up
evidence, including the plans and list of 33 names and, that led to the boy’s
arrest the same day.

McMahon said explosives
were mentioned in the plan, but searches including a combing of the high school
by dogs didn’t reveal any.

Encore is a charter high
school in Hesperia, a Mojave Desert City about 80 miles northeast of Los
Angeles.

Authorities say they don’t know what led the student to
develop the plot. McMahon told CBS Los Angeles there is no apparent
connection to terror and the student is the lone suspect.

The CEO of Encore said the
unnamed student will not return to campus. The boy is in custody facing
attempted murder and criminal threat charges, the station reports. But that
hasn’t completely allayed fears for some on campus.